


Greenhaven's Next Top Stars

by PlusUltraPhantomThief



Category: Spirit Animals - Various Authors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Idols, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gen, Idol AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pop Culture, Trainee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25097551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlusUltraPhantomThief/pseuds/PlusUltraPhantomThief
Summary: Olvan, the CEO of the failing idol company Greenhaven Entertainment has one last shot at saving the label and revolutionizing the entire industry. Four young trainees, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan, join the company and begin their long journey towards becoming world-famous stars.Basically SA but an Idol AU. I listen to too much kpop.
Relationships: Abeke/Shane, Conor/Devin Trunswick, Meilin/Rollan
Kudos: 8





	1. One Last Shot (Prologue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is really short since I decided against introducing the main four in this chapter! I hope you enjoyed and I know this is kind of a weird AU for SA but it just spoke to me for some reason lmao. Also, yes, I made all of the last names of the characters without them random words from SA lore. But yeah, I think this'll be pretty fun.

Olvan sat in his office, his head in his hands. 

_"Well Olvan, this is it. We had a good run- well no, it was actually rather terrible and a complete waste of time and money, but there's no hope now,"_ he muttered to himself. 

Olvan's head throbbed rhythmically, but he shook it off knowing that it was most likely stress-related. After all, running a failing entertainment company that's over a million dollars in debt doesn't exactly give one peace of mind. Over the many years since he had first founded Greenhaven Entertainment, he'd debuted so many acts: Girl groups, boy groups, solo artists- even a _clogging duo._ It never seemed to matter _what_ he did. Each new venture had crash-landed into obscurity. Still, it always felt as though he was just one step away from creating a global phenomenon. Unfortunately for the company, his absurd belief turned out to be nothing but a pipe dream. What would he do when the company finally went under? Maybe he could beg and grovel for his old job back at Redblood Labels. Just the thought of it made him shudder.

 _"No,"_ Olvan thought, a newfound determination welling up inside of him. When he had left Redblood Labels, he swore to the CEO, who was also his former friend, Zerif that he would revolutionize the music industry and put all of the uninspired corporate fat-cats sitting at the top to shame. For the sake of the industry, the company, and his dignity he _couldn't_ just give up without a fight. Olvan was going to give it one last shot.

He picked up the intercom and barked, "Lenori, Tarik, Lishay, Finn, there will be a meeting in the conference room in five minutes."

\-----------

Olvan solemnly eyed each of his subordinates as they filed into the room:

First, there was Lenori Myriam, the CFO of his company, and right-hand-woman. She was an incredible financial planner, yet even her frugality and extensive skillset weren't enough to save Greenhaven Ent. from bankruptcy.

Next, was Finn Cooley, the lead producer. He had only been in the music industry for a couple of years, but his music had already received astronomical success. Olvan was skeptical of his skill at first, but the moment he heard one of his songs his raw talent and creativity clearly shone through. He signed him immediately. Unfortunately for young, naive Finn, he hadn't done much research into other entertainment companies and as a result was stuck with Greenhaven.

Lishay Zhosur was the company's choreographer and dance teacher. So many trainees had passed through her studio doors, and she made it certain that their dancing abilities were never the cause of their failures.

Lastly, Tarik Caylif, the artist manager, entered the room. While he did not currently have any artists _to_ manage, Tarik remained a loyal employee, constantly pitching ideas for reviving the company that Olvan never paid much mind to. At least... not until now. 

As they all took their seats, the tension in the room became apparent.

"Thank you for meeting me here today." Olvan clasped his hands together, a smile full of false confidence on his face. "Now, I think that it's time to address the elephant in the room-"

"Are we getting fired?" Finn interrupted, asking the question that was on everybody's minds. The company's financial struggles were no secret, and every time its employees entered the building, they wondered if they would be out of work by the end of the day.

Instantly, chatter broke out amongst the meeting's attendees.

"I-is this why you called us here?" Tarik piped up nervously.

"Well, it's about time..." Lenori muttered. "Based on our finances I was expected this to happen sometime soon."

"No way...." Lishay groaned, massaging her forehead. "I can't believe I spent so many years of my life here..."

"E-everyone calm down." Olvan cried, but his voice was masked by the uproar. Finally, he roared "Shut up and listen!"

Immediately, the clamor screeched to a halt. Olvan's employees glanced at one another worriedly.

"So..." Olvan cleared his throat. "As I'm sure everyone knows, our current financial situation is somewhat dire."

Lenori scoffed as if she was about to point out just how big of an understatement that was but seemed to think better of it when she saw Olvan glaring at her.

"To be brutally honest with all of you, the company is in, well... Crippling debt." The somberness of his statement seemed to wash over the room, seemingly sucking all the air out of it. "But does that mean that we should give up?"

"What do you think crippling debt even _means_?" Finn muttered incredulously.

Olvan decided to ignore him and instead nodded at Lenori. "If I read your analysis correctly, we have very little money to spare, and certainly not enough to debut a new group."

"That is correct." Lenori nodded.

"But..." It was obvious that Lenori didn't like where this conversation was headed. "I did a few calculations of my own and found that with enough budget cuts in the right places, we could debut a new group with a maximum of 4 members-"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me Olvan! All of our previous acts have completely flopped. How do you think we got into this mess?" Lenori scoffed. "Besides, those "budget cuts" you're proposing will inevitably lead to our new trainees only having sub-par resources available to them."

"But, we can't just lie down and do nothing while we wait for the company to go under!" Tarik shot up in his seat.

It was good to know that he had at least one ally... Everyone else was looking at him like he was insane...

"What's the risk Lenori?" Olvan shrugged. "If the group is successful, then they could save the company! If they aren't, well, we were going out of business anyway."

"The risk is that you could end up penniless and on the streets."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, all we have to do is break-even on their debut album to have a fighting chance."

"You can't be serious..." Lenori looked up at Olvan, who stared right back at her. Deadly serious.

"Right now, we don't need to be proposing more problems. We need _solutions_." Olvan looked around the room. "If anyone could save the company, it's all of you. Give me some ideas. And fast."

Tarik sheepishly raised his hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand Tarik. This isn't grade school."

"R-right. Sorry, sir..." Tarik coughed. "Co-ed groups are extremely uncommon. I feel like we'll be able to gain traction and hook in an audience through the sheer novelty of debuting one."

Olvan tapped his chin thoughtfully. "That's a decent idea," Actually, it was kind of ingenious. Except for one problem. "But co-ed groups are pretty difficult to market..."

But there had to be some sort of secret for garnering attention. He sat there, thinking while his colleagues watched him expectantly. 

"That's it!" Olvan cried suddenly, startling the others. "Most co-ed groups are seen as "obscure" and are treated like edgy, underground acts."

"Yeah, and?" Lishay queried 

"I was getting to that- Whatever. But think about all of the co-ed idol groups you've heard of. Only one or two right? But they're always decently popular and well known in the idol scene."

Lenori's eyes brightened with understanding. "Ah, I see!"

"The mistake most co-ed groups make in their marketing is trying to set themselves apart from the idol industry when they should really be cementing their idol image!"

"That's a nice idea," Finn raised his eyebrows. "But we still _do_ have to set our group apart from the others or else they'll end up just like all of our others."

"We can handle all that later." Olvan waved him off. "Now, get me some coffee Tarik! We've got some brainstorming to do!"

\-----------

Lishay groaned as she watched the clock turn from 4:59 to 5 AM. "Don't you think we've planned enough for one night?"

Olvan took a long sip of his fourth cup of coffee. "We have to have all the details perfectly laid out as quickly as possible. After all, Tarik's going to start scouting tomorrow- well," Olvan glanced at the clock as well. "Technically today..."

"Wait, really?" Tarik yawned, his eyes red and puffy. It was obvious that it would be a challenge in his current state. "You never mentioned that..."

"Sorry, Tarik..." Olvan looked at him sympathetically. "But you're the only one I would trust with this job. You just have such an eye for talent..."

"I understand..." Tarik mumbled sullenly.

"Lishay has a point though," Lenori chided Olvan. "We've basically already planned out the next 3 years of the group's future..."

Finn chuckled. "Ironically, we still haven't picked out a name."

"That's not important right now. We'll pick one once we find members." Olvan hastily excused. "Now shall we review before we leave for the night" Or morning I suppose?"

"So, as you all remember, we decided on having the group compose and write their own music. It gives them an authentic image and sets them apart from most of the other groups," Finn addressed the others. "I know that it'll be difficult to train them in production and lyric writing along with the standard idol training, but for the first year or so they can collaborate with our in-house producers."

"Well, it looks like we have all our bases covered. Good work everyone!" Olvan exclaimed to his rather unresponsive team. The sleep deprivation sure was getting to them... "Alright, you guys should go home and get some rest. Oh, and Tarik? I'll message you some leads later today."

"Thanks, sir." Tarik grinned wearily, following the others on the way out of the conference room.

And so, Olvan was left alone with his thoughts, feeling... _hopeful_ for the first time in a while.


	2. Chapter 2: A Break-dancer Straight From the Boonies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conor, a young and talented street dancer, never considered the possibility of using his skills for anything other than earning some change here and there, but has a chance encounter one day that could potentially change his mind, and his life as a whole.

Conor pulled a baseball cap over his head and grabbed his backpack as he silently tiptoed towards the door, trying his best not to wake his older brothers. As he glanced at his siblings, who were snoring serenely, he envied them for being able to sleep in so late on Saturdays. While they all had part-time jobs to help a little with rent, Conor was the only one who worked on the weekends. He enjoyed walking dogs and all, but it was just so _early._ Especially since he had a weekend job that he kept on the down-low… Even though he made a decent amount of money from dog-walking it was just never _enough_. He dropped his bag on the ground, unconcerned with making noise seeing as his parents were still at work and his brothers were very soundly asleep. As his stomach growled, he looked through the cupboard for something to eat.

 _“Nice.”_ Conor thought to himself as his hand brushed against a granola bar. It was probably stale, but it was better than nothing. As he walked towards the sink to fill up his water bottle, he failed to spot his backpack and tripped. He yelped as he saw the floor rapidly approaching him. With a heavy thud, he crashed to the ground. 

“Ow…” Conor mumbled, his cheek plastered to the cold, hard floor.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he gingerly tried to set himself upright, but to his shock, he spotted his brother Garrin peering at him from outside of the kitchen.

“What are you doing on the floor, dumbass?” He chortled before noticing that he was fully dressed and his backpack was beside him. “And… where are you going?”

The suspicion in his voice was obvious, but Conor was too tired to think of a good excuse.

“What’s it to you?” He scoffed.

Garrin suddenly raised his eyebrow rather mischievously. “Conor… Are you going to meet a girl or something?”

Conor had to physically stop himself from laughing out loud at how ridiculous that assumption was. “Yeah. Sure,” He rolled his eyes. 

“Just get back here before mom and dad get home or they’ll start asking questions. Shouldn’t be too hard since they’re both working late…”

 _“Unsurprising…”_ , He murmured under his breath as he waved goodbye to his brother. 

He broke into a sprint the minute he got out the door. There was no time to waste. Following the ever so familiar path down the worn, countryside roads, he reached the only bus station in his town that had a route going into the city. As he waited for the bus, he breathed in the crisp mid-autumn air. He fished around in his pocket somewhat desperately for his bus fare. $2.50, and just enough for a one-way ticket. 

_“I-It’ll be fine!”_ Conor assured himself.

Hopefully, he would make enough money to buy his ticket home and then some… As the bus came into view, and then pulled to a halt in front of him, Conor hastily began to board, nearly tripping over the stairs in the process. Immediately he made his way to the end of the empty bus. Even though it was deserted now, it always filled up more and more the closer it got to the city, and he was unlikely to get disturbed at the back. Quietly, he pulled out the granola bar he brought from home and took a bite. It was pretty stale, but food was food. After finishing his semi-depressing breakfast, Conor pulled out his headphones and connected them to his phone. Slipping them on with one hand, he swiftly scrolled through his music library with the other. His eyes lit up when he found what he was looking for: the newest album from an idol rapper who went by Worthy.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Conor was kinda obsessed with him. Ever since Worthy had made his debut the year before, he had loyally followed all of his releases. His harsh, powerful vocals combined with biting, and often almost rage-filled social critiques just made him seem so _cool_. Conor relaxed his shoulders and let himself get swept away by the music, barely even noticing the stopping and starting of the bus. Soon enough, he began to drift away as his mind wandered. What if, one day he could meet Worthy? What would he say to him? Well, if he could manage to choke the words out, he would probably tell him how much his music inspired and meant to him… And how much he admired him as a person… But there was no point in dreaming like that. Conor was destined to be a nobody forever, and nobodies don’t get to meet world-famous celebrities.

Sighing, he decided to stop lingering on such depressing thoughts and turned his phone off. The music that usually gave him comfort now only rubbed salt in the wound. Instead, he tilted his head to glance at the landscape swiftly passing by outside of the smudged window. They were well out of the countryside and were now rushing past strip malls, large grocery stores, and other staples of suburban living. The dreary, gray background made it seem like all of the buildings were blending together as they passed by, almost exhausting his vision. This, combined with the surprisingly gentle movement of the bus made it impossible for Conor to prevent his eyelids from drooping more and more. How far from the city were they? And… how many hours of sleep did he get…? Conor assumed they’d be in the city in less than 45 minutes… It wasn’t all that much time, but it was still more than enough for him to slowly drift to sleep…

The bus screeched harshly as it violently pulled to a stop, jolting Conor awake.

 _“Where… am I?”_ Conor muttered to himself.

As his memory returned to him, he shot up to gape at the window, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw skyscrapers and busy streets. He had made it. Leaping through the doors, he barely made it out before they slammed shut. He felt as though his senses were being assaulted from all directions the moment he stepped onto the pavement. Even though he'd been coming to the city for weeks by then, it was still so _overwhelming_. The constant swarming of people around him and the incessant clamor could sometimes be almost too much to bear. It seemed like he would always be a country boy at heart… As he precariously weaved and prodded through the packed crowd, he scrolled through his phone looking for the route to the nearest avenue or city square. On the way, he pulled a cloth face mask from his backpack and slid it onto his face with an ease that only came with familiarity and repetition of a particular action. Finally, after a few minutes of traversing the streets, he found the perfect place. A large, semi-crowded seating area surrounded by pedestrian traffic on all sides. Setting his backpack on the ground, his heart started beating rapidly as he looked around. It wasn’t _jam-packed_ , but there was still a decent amount of people around. Conor cringed imagining the embarrassment he would endure if he messed up.

 _“Calm down! At the end of the day, my goal’s to have as many people watching me as possible, right?”_ Conor took a deep breath, trying to reassure himself

Without further hesitation, he pulled his Bluetooth speaker out of his bag and turned it on. The moment the old school hip-hop song blared from his speaker, all eyes turned towards him, even if some of the glances were only momentary. But none of it mattered to Conor. Once the music started playing, he was in the zone. After placing his hat on the ground as an obvious request for money, he started tapping his foot to the beat of the music. 

_“I’ll start off with some freestyle breakdancing to get some more attention.”_

After beginning with some energetic and bouncy top-rocking*, he dropped to the floor and began improvising to the music. When he began windmilling, he winced slightly.

_“Ugh… Why did I think breakdancing on cobblestone would be a good idea?”_

Conor knew he was gonna feel it the next day (especially since he forgot to stretch), but he didn’t care. Right now, dancing was the only thing that mattered. Looking up for a second, he saw that more people had gathered around him curious about the street dancer who had shown up. It probably would’ve been paralyzing having all these people scrutinizing him, but with his mask on, he was practically unidentifiable. His mask was also useful since it covered the grin that split across his face when he heard a couple of pairs of footsteps and the sound of a few coins clinking in his hat. After a while, Conor felt ready to start Phase 2 of the operation.

He stood up, quickly wiping sweat off of his brow before reaching for his phone to switch to a playlist of popular girl-group songs, much to the surprise of the small crowd that had formed. It seemed like a weird strategy, but it worked. Girl-group dances always managed to hype up the audience. In fact, he even got a few cheers sometimes. And besides, they were also just really fun. Smiling vibrantly with his eyes, he started the choreography to the first song, energetically pumping his fist in the air before starting the deceivingly complex footwork. Despite the difficulty, he had to make sure he was still enjoying himself. The people watching would be able to tell if he began to struggle. To counteract this, he made sure not to phone it in on the cuteness, flashing some especially enthusiastic finger-guns in the process. 

Conor’s heart fluttered when he looked over the smiling faces of the crowd.

_“Th-they’re really getting into it!”_

Even though he was shy, that didn’t mean he couldn’t get pumped up by giving a good performance. Still, when he had glanced at the crowd, one person, in particular, stood out. A tall, bespectacled man with warm brown skin who had a large stack of flyers clutched to his chest was watching him with a peculiar expression. Conor could only describe it as awe combined with... deep concentration and pondering? 

Shaking it off, Conor turned his attention back to the last dance in Phase 2 and the beginning of Phase 3. Phase 3 only consisted of one song, but it was the main event. This was where he pulled out all the stops and performed his most impressive choreography to date. Grabbing his phone once again, he switched the music again to of course… A Worthy song. He had been feeling exhausted from dancing for so long without a break, but the moment the music started playing, adrenaline flowed throughout him, ridding him of his fatigue. Excitement almost coursed through his veins as he began the choreography.

The abrupt change in energy certainly seemed to send the crowd reeling, as many people in the audience looked almost stunned by the cutting rap music and forceful dance moves that came right after such a cutesy routine. The slap of the cobblestone on his sneakers- The way his awkwardness disappeared when he executed the fast-paced, confident movements- The rush of air through his hair as he stepped and turned. He thrived on it. This was why he danced. When he froze on his finishing move, panting heavily, he was stunned to be met by thunderous applause and cheering. Almost everyone was expressing their respect in one way or another (except for a few jerks, but Conor was too excited to be offended), and it felt… Really good! Flustered, Conor felt it was only fair to give the audience a bashful half-bow. Most of them walked forwards to drop some money in his hat, or give compliments. He was almost out of breath from all of the profuse thanks he was giving. Eventually, the crowd thinned once they realized he was finished. Satisfied with his work, he crouched to pick up his hat.

Well, at least he was until a hooded figure ran past him, taking the hat- and all his earnings- with them in the process. 

“H-Hey!” Conor yelled indignantly as he began to chase after the thief. 

Conor was a pretty fast runner if did say so himself, which seemed to surprise the hooded thief who likely didn’t expect him to already be gaining on them. Quickly, they darted into a narrow alleyway as Conor followed hot on their heels.

“Say your prayers!” Conor shouted, grabbing for the thief’s jacket but just barely missing. 

He was about to start sprinting again before his legs wobbled underneath him, giving out as he fell with a thud to the ground. Adrenaline couldn’t hold out against his exhaustion forever. Feeling defeated, he was ready to give up- at least until he saw the strange man with the flyers from the crowd earlier...

“Which way did they go?” he panted, looking rather frazzled.

Conor said nothing, instead only pointing dejectedly down the alleyway, watching as the man ran past him. Sighing, he pulled himself off of the ground, his legs still shaking slightly, and rested against a wall. Tears pooled in his eyes, threatening to fall, but he choked them back, trying to look on the bright side. Unfortunately, that was hard in a situation that had no bright side in sight. He turned around to leave the alleyway, knowing there was no way that weird guy would catch the thief but stopped when he heard footsteps. He swiveled his head around to see it was that same man.

“No way…” Conor said in disbelief. “Did you actually catch them?”

“Well…” The man sheepishly scratched his head. “They were gone by the time I got back to the street.”

“Oh… Well, thanks for trying…” Conor sighed. “Why _did_ you help me anyway?”

“Well… it just wasn’t right you know? I can’t stand to see someone’s hard-earned money stolen away.”

In his eyes, he could tell that he was being genuine. As they emerged from the alleyway, the man turned to him holding out a flyer.

“Look, I work for an entertainment company and we’re recruiting trainees for a new group we’re debuting. You’ve got talent, and not to mention tons of potential. I think you’d be a perfect fit.”

Conor chuckled slightly. “Thanks, but I don’t know about all that… I really doubt I’d be cut out for it. Besides, there’s no way my parents would say yes.”

“Well, just think about it, okay?” He pushed the flyer towards him. “I feel like you could really make it big.”

“Fine fine... “ He said, taking a flyer. Conor groaned. “Man… I wish they could’ve at least left me enough money for a bus ticket…”

“Oh, how much do you need?” He said, digging into his pocket. “A ticket’s like- $5.00 right?”

“N-no, it’s more like $2.50” He murmured abashedly.

“Well, you can keep the change.” He said, handing him a 5 dollar bill

“Th-thanks a lot dude! Really!” Flustered, he thanked him.

“He laughed in response. “It’s just $5.00 kid...”

\----------

Conor never thought he’d be so relieved to throw himself onto a lumpy bus seat in his life, but after such an exhausting day all he wanted was to go home. As the bus began moving, instead of scrolling through his phone he decided to pull the flyer out of his bag.

 _“Greenhaven Entertainment, huh? Never heard of it before…”_ Conor thought to himself. _“The audition’s-”_

“Next Saturday?!”, he yelped in surprise, earning him many annoyed glares and side-eyes from the other passengers. 

He needed to make a decision, and he needed to do it fast. When he really thought about it, what did he have to lose? On the off chance that he made it in, he didn’t _necessarily_ have to sign onto the company. But if he never even tried, he would always wonder what could have been. He had never been good at school, sports, or even making friends, but dancing was the one thing he was good at, so why not use that talent? Forget feeling tired! He had to start practicing for this audition the minute he got home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Toprock: A major element of breakdancing that generally refers to foot movement performed from a standing position. It is usually the first and foremost opening display of style.
> 
> Woooow this was pretty long haha... whoops :) The other 3 character introduction chapter will probably be this long too so sorry about that... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to chapter 3! Happy New Year!


End file.
